Thursday, October 13, 2016

Find the Simple Pleasures!

This is the view off of my back porch at the house.

What you can’t see at the far back beyond the bushes is a creek.

The creek was FULL with all of the rain that came from Hurricane Matthew, but our house is on a little hill and I’ve only seen the banks of the creek overflow once in the 8 1/2 years that we’ve lived here.

I am enjoying the slow turn of green summer leaves into the yellows and golds of fall. It’s just barely starting.

Leaves start to look tired, like they’ve tried all they can to be all they can be to provide beautiful shade during the hot summer months and as they get ready to fall, we say “Thank you for a job well done!” and begin to think of the long winter ahead and of next spring when NEW leaves will emerge.

The change of the seasons always has me waxing a bit philosophical, and sitting at my dining room table signing books has put me in that place. And it’s good!

Woods at the side yard standing tall in the morning light.

It dipped down to 47 degrees last night. I felt the chill in the house when I woke up this morning. For those of you in northern climes, 47 might not seem low. But it’s the first time we’ve dipped out of the 50s in the morning so far this fall. It’s coming. Hooray for 2-quilt-nights and warm slippers in the morning.

Anticipating this turn of events, I threw the remainder of a rotisserie chicken in the crock pot, covered it with water and let it simmer on low all night. It will become tonight’s chicken soup dinner after deboning, straining the broth and chilling it to remove the fat that floats to the top. I’ll add garlic, onion, celery, carrots, spices and perhaps some rice at the end to thicken it up and make it a bit more hearty. I love soup season!

10 bins to the post office yesterday. That’s about 150 orders out.

And these were at the door when I got back!

I had posted about these desk lamps HERE. Our machine guy, Scott from Citrus Sew & Vac had these on the Alaskan Cruise as a clamp on desk style lamp and I bought 2, one for home, one for the cabin. And I love them. And this time he had a floor model lamp that I sat at to stitch hexie fill-in-corner #3 to the mothership while on the Caribbean cruise and I knew I had to have one. And I bought two. Again, one for the cabin, one for home.

Because once you sit under these lights you don’t want any other kind of light at all.

Only some assembly is required! LOL!

QuiltGuyver to the rescue!

The instructions say to thread the cord attached in the center of the base up through pole A. Well, the cord is kinked and curly and it would only reach so far and not reach out the upper end. WHAT TO DO!?

I grabbed a length of Moda ribbon, taped a pen to the end of it, and dropped the pen from the top end of the pole to the bottom.

Removed the pen and taped the ribbon to the cord end!

Pulled the ribbon until the top of the cord was out the top of the pole!

Screwed the pole in place!

attach cord end to pole B!

Et voila!

For those asking how this compares to the Ikea light? It’s about 10 times better. The long light bar does not get hot. It’s a bright daylight LED bar that will last for 20 years or something like 50,000 hours. The amount of light is incredible!

I told Scott that he needed to get these up on the Citrus Sew & Vac website, because my folks will want them. They aren’t there yet, but you can call and order one. Or two. Your eyes will thank you. I know mine do. Call the main store at Tel: (352) 620-0225. Tell them Bonnie sent you. And I have no affiliation other than I love these lights. They make the world of difference for me.

And I saved the ribbon/pen set up for when I assemble the next one at the cabin!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Life is not a race. Each day is different. Don't gauge what you should accomplish today by what you accomplished yesterday or last week. Just do what you can to the best of your ability. And don't forget to listen to the birds singing.

Early applique quilt found in North Carolina in the traditional colors of teal blue and oxblood brown with triple sashings, lots of echo quilting and Baptist fans. This is one that did come home with me!

I bet the darker side was up against a wall…with the sunlight hitting the quilt from a window. I just love this quilt.

It also speaks AUTUMN to me!

I’m off to the dining room for another round of order fulfillment. Music is on. It’s a great day!

16 comments:

I'm not a fan of those lights. BUT my DH made me a BRIDGE lamp, cleaned it up, assembled some older ones to make a beautiful vintage lamp. W an Ott light, or an LED bulb it's perfect for use w my vintage sewing machine!

I will have to look into getting one of these lights. It looks better than the Ott light and much more classier. Fall is definitely here in the northeast. I'm looking forward to working on more quilty things. Have a wonderful day!

Lol...I just ordered one! Should be good Christmas gift for my husband.....maybe I can try it out too! I see you have to purchase a 175W bulb. What kind (shape?size?) of 175W bulb would that be? Thanks for the creative solution to thread the cord through the the pole!

I love your blog and look forward to your quotes, ideas and waxing philosophically. Will have to look into the new lamps - using Ott lamps right now. Bought your new book at Schoolhouse Quilts in Forest City, NC last week and I'm so excited because I did your online class and now I can make quilts from the blocks in the class. Woo Hoo! Thank you for sharing your ideas and aways inspiring me to play with my scraps!

My DH got LED lights for my vintage machines too and they are great. However I need one or two of those floor lamps as well. I just recently got a singer 201 added to my vintage machine collection and that machine is the best sewing machine I've ever sewn on. With or without the light. Enjoy your fall Bonnie and thanks for all the great ideas and quilts.

I have put mostly LED Lights in my new house. I have 28 CAN Lights put up besides overhead lights. I have extra LED Lights in the bedrooms, my office, the sewing studio, the kitchen and the living room. The electrician could not believe how much light I have in this house. After all, THIS IS Alaska, and it does get DARK more in the winter, so I want the light in the house.

Good lighting DOES Make a world of difference. You do not want to ruin your eyes. get good lighting!

DonnaIn Sunny, Kasilof, AK, 33 degrees this am, will be mid 20's tomorrow am. We are finally getting back to normal. The colors have been beautiful for the last month. It truly is Fall here.

I got my notice that the book has been sent. Oh thank you so much. I'm getting my knee replacement on the 25th so will have lots of time to sew and read. Can't wait. Still think about your Mom and hope her wheel chair days are over. Thank you Bonnie.

I woul d like to send you a photo of my "Dana's Crabby Apple Orchard", a variation of your Craby Apple workshop class from June at the East Cobb Quilters Guild in Marietta. Please message me an address to send pic to.ThanksNancyrn57@gmail.com